A Sparrow in Snowfall
by xXRandomnessPrevailsXx
Summary: When Utau tries to save a sparrow on Christmas Eve and Kukai saves her from getting run over, what more could possibly happen? Slight Nikaido/Yukari, lots of Kutau. First attempt at a oneshot, so don't kill me. Rated T because I'm paranoid.


So, after disappearing for 6 months, I have a new fanfic. I had extreme writers block for a very long time, and I don't wish to bore you with the details. It feels good to be back on this site. Without further ado, let the story begin! It's a Kutau one-shot, and, well, you'll find out.

In this fic, I changed their ages, just 'cuz I could. Also, Kukai's brothers are out of the house, doing whatever. I'm too lazy to come up with a reason. They're just out. So are his parents. Other than that, everything else is pretty much the same.

Kukai-15 Utau-14

**I don't own Shugo Chara.**

**A Sparrow in Snowfall**

It was a cold 24th of December. A building known as Easter was once part of a now nonexistent evil organization. It housed many idols, including the ever-successful Hoshina Utau. It was barely noon and all employees were let out early for the holiday season.

"Good work today, Utau," complimented her manager, Sanjou Yukari.

Utau smiled back. "Arigatou."

"Well, I have to get going!" Yukari exclaimed. She waved goodbye and rushed to her fiancé's side. Yukari was happily engaged to Nikaido Yuu.

Utau turned and made her way down the sidewalk to her house. After about 10 minutes of walking, it began to snow. The blonde paused and trained her deep violet eyes on the delicate flakes. Snowflakes were beautiful, complicated, and had a short-lived life. But they brought so much joy to those who watched them. It was Utau's aim to be like an eternal snowflake in her career; a permanent bliss to anyone who listened. As she was crossing a street near her favorite ramen shop, Utau noticed a small tan figure in the middle of the road. No cars were in sight, so she stooped down and cupped her gloved hands to pick it up. Bringing it closer to her face, she saw it was a sparrow, injured and unable to fly, separated from its family until it healed. Utau cradled it in her hands and made her way back to the sidewalk. Suddenly, she felt her left foot plunge downwards, stuck. She looked down and her foot had fallen into a small but deep pothole. Two beams of light grew brighter and brighter. Utau panicked. It was a car! She tried to yank her boot out of the pothole, to no avail.

Nearby, Souma Kukai was exiting his favorite ramen shop. He stood in the snow as he studied a person hunched on the ground. The girl's long blonde hair was tied in two ponytails on either side of her head. Was it Utau? Kukai walked in her general direction and tried to get a better look at her face. He smiled when he saw that it really was Utau, but he wondered what doing in the middle of the road. When he heard tires screaming across pavement, he looked to his left and saw the car speeding straight for her. Kukai broke into a dash. He had to save her! Quickly, he unbuckled her boots, surprising her with his sudden appearance, and tackled her off the road. The car rushed by, running over Utau's boot and sending it flying towards the ramen shop. Utau's face had turned a strawberry red because when Kukai tackled her, he ended up on top of her. Said person let go of her and took her by her shoulders, asking if she was okay. However, she was still shaken up from her close encounter with both the car and him, and passed out with the sparrow in her arms. Kukai shook his head and grinned. So she was saving an animal. He sighed and picked her up in the easiest fashion he could—bridal style.

When Utau came to, she didn't know where she was. She looked at her surroundings and found the walls of the room covered with sports posters and autographed jerseys. The bed she was lying in had a star-and-soccer ball theme. Kukai was slumped over his desk to her right. His head lay on his right arm, his left hanging over his head. He had been watching her until he fell asleep. He stirred a bit and blinked his neon green eyes a few times. A smile curled on his lips.

"How are you, Utau?" he asked.

Her voice was weak from just waking up, but she managed to reply, "…I'm better…"

She threw the covers off her body and noticed black cloth at the foot of the bed. Upon closer inspection, she found that they were the clothes she had been wearing when she left Easter. Then what was she wearing? She glanced at her own body and found it covered in a large soccer t-shirt and black-and-red plaid flannels. Her head turned to Kukai, who had been watching her and realized what she was thinking. Both of their faces were covered in a slight blush.

"It's not what you think!" Kukai explained. "Iru and Eru got Ran, Miki, Su, Dia, Kusukusu, and Temari to help them change you! Daichi and I were downstairs waiting for them to finish!"

A few silent moments passed until Utau had the courage to ask him where the sparrow was. Kukai got up from his chair, helped Utau out of bed, and led her downstairs to the living room.

On the coffee table, there was a sparrow in a splint and Charas Iru, Eru, Daichi, Ran, Miki, Su, Dia, Yoru (no one knows how he got back, but no one complained or asked), Kiseki, Temari, Rhythm, Masashi, Pepe, and Kusukusu. Daichi had already taken the liberty of plugging in the karaoke system and the Charas were taking turns singing. They all noticed the two coming down the stairs.

"Finally! Hurry up, you guys, and join the fun!" Iru urged.

Kukai looked at Utau, who shrugged and took the song catalog. For the next few hours, they continued to sing, play various video games, and watch comedy shows. When it was 8 o' clock, all the Charas returned to their owners' homes. Daichi went back to his egg upstairs. Iru and Eru returned to their own eggs at Utau's house. Kukai and Utau were alone.

"Ano… thank you for today, Kukai. It was really fun…" Utau commented softly.

Kukai came into her field of vision. "Yeah, that's nice, but why are you talking to the floo—"

He was cut off by a growl from Utau's stomach. Her face turned red. He laughed.

"Y'know, if you were hungry, you could've just said so," Kukai told her. She stared sheepishly at the floor. Again. A few minutes later, they were out the door and headed to their favorite ramen shop with a sparrow for company—in their regular clothes, of course.

On their way, they stopped several times to admire the wondrous sights that surrounded the town for the holidays. Instead of going straight to the ramen shop, they went ice skating at Ice Palace. It was near the town's center, so there was a large Christmas tree by the outdoors rink. Kukai slid onto the white stage, skidding around to wait for Utau. Both of her hands were on the wall enclosing the rink. She shakily took a first step as the sparrow chirped inside her warm coat pocket. She pushed away from the wall and glided slowly towards Kukai. He stretched his hand out for her to take and pulled her along at a startling speed. Utau began to copy his movements and skated alongside him.

"I knew you'd learn fast," he smiled. Then, he launched her in front of him and told her to straighten out her legs and arms. She did just that. It wasn't long before he came up behind her and picked her up by her waist, lifting her into the air. They wordlessly put together a string of flips, turns, and tricks that came to them naturally. Others on the ice cleared the way, all of them eventually leaving the floor to watch the pair's beautiful show. The DJ even put on Utau's new song, Eternal Snowfall, so they could coordinate their moves.

For the finale, Kukai locked his hands together, on which Utau lightly placed her blade, and she was launched into the air. While doing a backflip, she spun around once, twice, thrice, four times, performing the first ever quadruple axel backflip. Kukai gained some speed and positioned his feet so that the heels were touching, but they were in a straight line. He leaned back without losing his balance, then placed his left hand on the ice, faced his right foot forward, straightened his left leg out, and made it seem as though he was lying on the ice, even if he wasn't. Hurriedly, he got up, skated backwards for a short distance, and using the spiked toe of his blade, jumped up and spun twice before landing and flawlessly catching Utau in the bridal position. The audience was shocked. He had just done a Sleeping Eagle to Hydroblade to Double Salchow. The song ended and the pair took a bow, appreciating the applause and cat calls they received. The sparrow in Utau's pocket was chirping wildly, but gladly.

They were finished skating for the night and returned their blades to the rental desk. The manager of the rink in return gave them each a pair of their own blades, each the same size as they had rented, but brand new. Utau's were an untainted and glowing white. Kukai's were a deep, undisturbed black. They were basic, but they were an awesome gift. Both of them tied the laces together and hung them over their shoulders.

After some window-shopping, Utau saw a photo booth a few feet away. Kukai caught her staring at it and grabbed her hand.

"Let's go!" he smiled.

Utau smiled. "…sure."

They got inside, but it was a rather tight fit. Utau told Kukai that they didn't have to take pictures, but he insisted that this was the only one in the area. If they sat shoulder to shoulder, they didn't get all of their heads in the picture. So, they had to cram their bodies together in a way that made it look like they were hugging. Utau and Kukai both grinned at the camera, each actually a little happy that the photo booth was tiny. Outside, Utau collected the multiple pictures on a single sheet and carefully ripped it in half and gave it to Kukai to keep. The other she put in her vacant pocket. She watched quietly as Kukai placed his inside the clear slot of his wallet.

Not ten feet from the booth, Kukai spotted a local hot fudge vendor he knew well.

"Hey!" he called out. "Ruka! Over here!" He waved his hand to show his location. The vendor turned his attention to the reddish-brown haired boy. He waved back.

"How goes it?" Ruka asked as Utau and Kukai trotted up to his cart." He glanced at Utau and turned back to Kukai. Subtly, winked at his friend. "Since you've come to get fudge from my cart every Sunday since you were 5 and I was in 9th grade, how 'bout I give you a little treat for you and your friend?" Kukai looked at Utau.

"There anything you want, Utau?" he questioned, rubbing his earrings, since they were making his ears colder than they already were. She gazed at the menu and pointed at the biggest item she saw, the Deca-Scoop Banana Split with Extra Fudge. Ruka simply smirked and fixed one up with inhuman speed. He gave them the bowl and two parfait spoons before leaving to serve other customers. Kukai set the bowl down on a table for two outside a restaurant that was closed for the night. Within a few minutes, the entire creation only had a spoonful of ice cream and fudge left.

"Here. You have the last of it," Kukai said, pushing the bowl to Utau.

She cocked her head. "Really?"

"Yeah. Sure. Go ahead. I don't mind."

"Thanks." As she fixed her grip on the spoon, it slipped and fell to the cement with a clang.

Kukai peered at the fallen utensil. "Huh… well, if you still want it, you can use my spoon," he offered, without the slightest idea of what he just said. Utau turned a deep shade of pink as she stubbornly refused, the thought of sharing an indirect kiss with Kukai tumbling in her head like a washing machine. However, he would hear nothing of it. He scooped up the last of the treat and placed it in Utau's mouth as she was talking. Her lips closed around it and he slowly removed the spoon without having to make her open her mouth.

"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" he asked her. She shook her head.

Just then, Ruka passed by with his cart, smirking. "I knew you two lovebirds made a good couple." The sparrow chirped as if teasing them as well.

The intended targets turned a deep crimson as they got up and wandered around aimlessly.

About half an hour later, the pair's stomach's growled simultaneously. Without having to speak a word, they both raced to their favorite ramen shop a few blocks away. Utau had the lead for a while, but Kukai came up behind her and surpassed her at the last second. Panting, they entered the shop, where they were greeted by the chef.

"Finally. I though you two were never gonna show. I even kept shop open for an extra hour!"

"Heh… sorry 'bout that," Kukai laughed. "We got sidetracked… a lot." Utau nodded in agreement. "Since you were king enough to keep our food warm, can we get it to go so you can get home?"

The chef sighed knowingly. "I know, I know. You two ain't bad kids. Merry Christmas. And, uh… well, I speak for everyone when I say this, just get under the mistletoe already." He left quickly, leaving the pair with heated faces. The sparrow chirped almost endlessly as they silently made their way back to the town center with their ramen.

They sat on the bench directly in front of the titanic evergreen that was covered in thousands upon millions of decorations and lights. Utau took the sparrow to see why it wouldn't stop chirping. It pecked at and cut the splint from its arm and gave Kukai and Utau one last glance before taking off. They stared at it until it disappeared, then started their ramen-eating contest. It wasn't long until Kukai proved victorious once again.

"Since I'm already done, can I have some of your ramen?" Kukai asked Utau.

She shook her head. "If you still wanted ramen, you should've eaten yours more slowly so it would last. Besides, I'm almost done." He sighed and turned his attention to the Christmas tree behind them. Utau did the same. They began pointing out all the different decorations they saw—mini toy drums, angels, stars, strands of tinsel here and there, everything. Or almost everything. Utau slurped up her last bit of ramen and threw her empty bowl into the trash can beside her. Suddenly, a small brown object crashed into the tree, carrying something with its beak.

"What was that?" he asked. She shrugged because she still had ramen in her mouth. The object emerged—it was the sparrow from earlier, and it set whatever it had down in the tree. It gave both of them a curious look before chirping and flying off once more. Kukai and Utau glanced at what it had left behind—a tiny branch of mistletoe, just above their heads. Kukai grinned.

"Guess I'll be getting that ramen after all."

Before Utau could move, Kukai pressed his lips against hers. She felt the heat creep up to her cheeks. It was pointless to escape now; she couldn't move anymore. Her heart pounded louder and harder as he scooted closer and cocked his head a little to the right. His actions left her with no choice but to part her lips as he moved his tongue to get whatever ramen was left in her mouth. Even after it was gone, she couldn't pull herself away from him. There was just something about it that felt right to her. He pushed with more force, and she found herself responding. Her tongue flicked his upper lip and she grabbed the collar of his jacket with both hands, bringing him closer. She closed her eyes tightly and pushed harder. He loved a good challenge. Cupping her cheek with his left hand, he tilted her head more and went in deeper. His tongue nudged the roof of her mouth and she let a little moan. He slid his tongue next to hers and she whimpered, his hormones driving him over the edge. To their dismay, the kiss didn't last forever. Eventually, they had to part to get air.

Cheeks red and lips warm, Utau stared in disbelief at the ground. Her first kiss had turned into a make out session with Kukai! She fingered her lips and looked at him. He was just looking straight ahead, licking his lips. Other than his cheeks a giving hint of a miniscule blush, he appeared unfazed by what just happened. He checked his watch, told her to be careful going home, and got up from the bench. She could only watch as he walked away. Over his shoulder he called out to her.

"Oh yeah… thanks for the ramen. It was delicious."

…and done. So, how do you people like the story? Was it good? Was the MO part hot enough for you? First one-shot, eheh.

About the ice skating tricks, YouTube them if you want to see them... except for the quadruple axel backflip. I made that up. I think.

Rate, review, flame, I don't care. Just tell me what you thought about it.


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